captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> warner: good evening from the time warner cable arena in charlotte, where the gavel came down just an hour ago for day one of the democratic national convention. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, it's the first of three days when the democrats make their case for a second term for president obama and vice president biden. >> woodruff: we'll take you to the floor to hear speakers and delegates. >> ifill: and step outside the arena to talk with massachusetts senate candidate elizabeth warren. >> woodruff: winning the youth vote was critical four years ago. ray suarez examines the effort this time around. >> ifill: half the delegates

here are women. we'll look at the democrats' efforts to maintain their gender edge. >> woodruff: and gwen and i will be joined again tonight for insight and analysis from newshour regulars mark shields and david brooks. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> they can be enlightening or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow. at wells fargo, we believe you can never underestimate the power of a conversation. it's this exchange of ideas that helps you move ahead with confidence. because an open dialogue is what open doors. wells fargo. together we'll go far. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the democrats are already under way here in charlotte this evening,

beginning their quadrennial national gathering. their goal: to reelect the president, who spent this day campaigning not so far away. hari sreenivasan begins our coverage of the day's events. >> with the convention gearing up in north carolina, president obama was in virginia, another battleground state he care field will 2008. at norfolk state university, he argued his reelection gives the country its best chance to move forward. >> now the other side will tell you about their ideas, but on thursday night i'm going to look forward to sharing mine with you a path that will create good jobs and strengthen our middle-class and grow our economy. >> sreenivasan: the president also pressed his case in an interview with "u.s.a. today." he said his republican opponent created what he calls a fictional barack obama in features and adds. >> under obama's plan we

wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. they'll just send you your welfare check. >> reporter: the president said tomorrow he'll be... vice president joe biden arrived in the convention city this afternoon. on the republican side, vice presidential nominee joe biden campaigned in ohio charging the president has been a failure. >> ... >> you can't look atta t data, you can't look at the suffering families or the jobs lost or the death crisis over our economy and say we're better off than we were four years ago. as a matter of fact, president obama's record is worse than jimmy carter's record. (laughter) >> sreenivasan: the man at the top of the g.o.p. ticket, mitt romney, spent the day in vermont preparing for the fall debate. back in charlotte, the democratic national convention officially kicked off late this afternoon. >> this is the democratic national convention will now come to order!

(cheers and applause) >> reporter: the highlight tonight will feature first lady michelle obama addressing the convention. >> ifill: ray suarez is down there among the delegates where he'll be everyday and every night all week. ray? >> suarez: gwen and judy, the convention, as harry noted, was gaveled into order by debbie wasserman schultz and will turn to official business and housekeeping but now as official t official delegates are making their way into the hall it's well and truly under way with a parade of speakers including the first woman bishop of the african methodist episcopal church, the leader of the international service employees international union, mary kay henry, and the first woman three-star general in the u.s. army, claudia kennedy. it's interesting, they get to make the rebuttal case as the republican had their convention last week but you can already hear a mirror image of america being presented by the speakers of this convention.

earlier financial journalists and author andrew tobias spoke of the democrats' support for same-sex marriage, which was widely deplored last week in tampa and earlier one of the secretaries of the convention spoke of the passage of the affordable care act which has promised to be repealed last week. last week it got thunderous applause. back to you, judy. >> woodruff: thank you, ray, so newark mayor cory booker spoke... in fact, he's still speaking on the convention floor. he chairs the platform committee. the democrats' document draws a sharp contrast with the republicans, calling for higher taxes on the wealthy, same sex marriage, and immigration reform. let's listen in. >> our platform is crafted by democrats, but it is not about partisanship it's about pragmatism. it's not about left or right but

about moving america and our economy forward. (cheers and applause) our platform and our president stands firm in the conviction that america must continue to outbuild, outinnovate, and outeducate the world (cheers and applause) you see, this platform is a clear choice between economic pathways-- forward or back, inclusion or exclusion, grow together as a nation or be a country of savage disparitys that favor the fortunate few over the greatest driving force of any economy. a large and robust middle-class. (cheers and applause)

we must choose forward. we must choose inclusion. we must choose growing together. we choose american might and american muscle, standing strong on the bedrock of the american ideal. a strong and empowered and ever-expanding and ever-growing middle-class. (cheers and applause) our platform emphasizes that a vibrant, free, and fair market is essential to economic growth. we also must pull from our highest ideals of justice and fairness to protect against those ills that destabilize our economy in recent years-- like predatory lending, overleveraged financial institutions and the unchecked avarice of the past

that trumped fairness and common sense our platform calls for significant cuts in federal spending. our platform calls for balanced deficit reduction plan where everyone-- everyone-- from elected officials to the wealthy and the super wealthy pay their fair share. (cheers and applause) >> ifill: of course, cory booker is one of the rising stars of this party and he's still speaking behind us because people are so excited about what he has to say. if you want to hear more of what mayor booker has to say, it's on our live stream. david, he talked about pragmatism instead of politics. what he he talking about? >> well, the republicans felt as

if everybody in america is a small business owner, they're trying to say a lot of people in america are never going to start a business, we going to help them. and the truthful question to ask over the next couple days is the stagnation of middle-class wages do they have the answers big enough to address it and do they have new answers and that's something we'll see. >> woodruff: mark, is that something they're going to talk about with any specificity? mark mark they have to. the democratic dialogue is all middle-class, middle-class, middle-class. i remember when democrats talked about the poor and the oppressed and those left behind and there seems to be a lot less of that. because that's what most are. and we have seen a decade, we've reached the highest median in household income in this country in 1999. the next to last year of bill clinton's presidency. it's gone down dramatically

since then and continues to decline and david is right. a share of the nation's wealth, the middle-class tax... >> it should also be said that several months ago cory booker got into trouble with the obama campaign saying he was disgusted by the attacks on bain and he's mayor of newark but he's not an old-line 1970s liberal. he's much more pragmatic. >> ifill: that reaction behind us, the cheers, it sounds like there's pent up... we'll be talking about how the democrats, the middle-class, i mean, it's middle-class people behind us but they want to talk about lofty things and they seem to be hungry for that. >> they've got a good turnout so they have to fire up... they're using this campaign as an organizing tool. they have to get women to come out to vote. they have to get latinos. they have to get young people out to vote. so they've got to spend a lot of

time reaching out. they'll do that later in the week but today is to fire out the people that are already there. >> woodruff: talking about not talking about poverty, on the streets of charlotte there's been heavy rain off and on but there are the 99% protesters that have occupied so (inaudible) but they are here and they're complaining democrats aren't listening. >> a plague on both your houses is the message which is something democrats are not used to hearing. i think the biggest concern democrats have this week is that their appeals to the groups david described-- turnouts of women and latinos and gays in particular-- cannot appear to be just a constituency coddling. there has to be that overall and overarching message to everybody. >> ifill: we'll see all of that on display tonight. we'll be back with much more convention coverage after the other news of the day. here's kwame holman in our washington newsroom.

here's kwame holman in our washington newsroom. >> holman: a suicidbonmber i ereaern afghanistan killed at least ia ceailivns today ail wounded 30. it happened at a funeral for a village elder.ay police said the apparent target was a leader in the remote durbaba district in nangarhar province. there's been fighting in the region against taliban and other insurgents. also today, nato head anders fogh rasmussen said plans to hand over security to afghan forces remain on schedule. that's despite a surge of "insider" attacks by afghan soldiers and police that killed 15 coalition troops in august. in syria, u.n. refugee officials said the number of syrians fleeing the civil war has surged. some 100,000 people escaped into neighboring countries in august. already more than 230,000 syrians are in makeshift camps like this one in jordan. new arrivals there say the exodus is a long way from ending. >> ( translated ): the flee willing increase because of the increase of shell big syrian

government forces. the shelling is still going on in damascus, dara, aleppo and hama. shelling is still going on everywhere. it's random shelling. it's indescribable and the free syrian army doesn't have ammunition to fight assad's forces. >> holman: meanwhile, the head of the international red cross met in damascus today with president bashar al-assad. the syrian leader promised greater humanitarian access for aid workers. in economic news, u.s. auto sales saw healthy gains in august. general motors reported a 10% increase. ford was up 13%, and chrysler sales rose 14%. the u.s. automakers were boosted especially by rising demand for pickup trucks. despite the auto numbers, a closely watched industry survey found overall manufacturing contracted for the third straight month. and on wall street, the dow jones industrial average lost 55 points to close under 13,036. the nasdaq rose eight points to close at 3075.

those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to gwen and judy in charlotte. >> ifill: one of tomorrow night's headline speakers is massachusetts senate challenger elizabeth warren, who is trying to oust the republican who succeeded ted kennedy. i sat down with her earlier today at her charlotte hotel. elizabeth warren, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> ifill: your reputation nationally is that of a regulator, someone who took on wall street and championed reform. how much in this campaign, either in your campaign or massachusetts and nationally is regulation a central part of this argument anymore? >> >> well, i think regulation is a part of it, particularly as mitt romney says he wants to roll back all of the reforms on wall street if he gets selected. think about that he's saying i want to tell wall street they can go back to doing what they were doing on the day before they crashed the economy in that

sense the republicans have made regulations a part of the argument but, look, at the end of the day what this is really about is about whose side you stand on. about working families or the billionaires, the hedge funds, the wall street guys. that. >> ifill: that's the argument democrats want to make against mitt romney, no question. does that translate to a race like the massachusetts senate race where perhaps the voters aren't as polarized as they are nationally? >> well, i think the question about what's happening to our families is really important in massachusetts. you know, part of being out on the campaign trail is that i talk, but i also listen a lot. and people tell me what's important. i met a kid in worcester a few weeks ago who said "i did everything you wanted me to do, i went to college, i worked hard i got my diploma and now i'm $54

in debt. i'm working a part-time job and i'm beginning to wonder, does america have a future for me?" i talk to seniors who are having a hard time keeping it pulled together and they now see a little bit of relief with these new health care reforms, they get a free exam every year. in massachusettswe 've got about 11,000 seniors who are getting an average of about $650,000 in help every year on paying for their prescription drugs. and scott brown and the republicans have said, nope, they want to repeal that, they want to go back to square one, they want to get rid of them. so these are core issues that i care about all over the commonwealth. >> ifill: scott brown says when it comes to barack obama the economy is a drag, today he said his report card was incomplete.

when it comes to mitt romney there are people who say he is too beholden to his party's conservative wing. which is the bigger drag? >> i just don't see it that way. i really see this as who you're fighting for. i didn't get into this race because of me. i got pulled into this race because of what i see as the urgency of the moment. america's working families have just been hounded and it's been going on for a generation flat wages, rising expenses in housing and health care and sending a kid to school and it's put families in a vice at the same time there have been those in the federal government who said, hey, big tax breaks for oil companies billionaire cans pay taxes at half the race of

everyone else, regulations will be designed with new polls and places that people with thread through if they can hire the right lobbyists it's a system that isn't working any more for american families. it works for those who hire lobbyists. for me that's what this race is about. >> ifill: in other states, battleground states, states with bigger battlegrounds in massachusetts, the argument you're making is big paid for by third party groups. you and scott brown have signed a non-aggression pact on this matter. somehow that working? how is it that you can control whether an outside group pours money into your race? >> well, what we agreed to is that if an outside group came in that the one who was helped would pay half of the cost of the advertising to a charity chosen by the other side. so in other words the next time karl rove comes in-- because karl rove had already been in in massachusetts-- if karl rove

comes back in scott brown agrees that he will pay half the cost of the ad buy and pay it to a charity that i choose. it was a way of saying to the outside groups "we're serious about wanting you to stay out. it's not just talk, talk. stay out because we want to be the one to talk to the voters of massachusetts and i think voter of massachusetts deserve that. it's a good way to go. >> ifill: this seems almost like a shocking example of bipartisanship. are there limits and merits to the values of bipartisanship either in your race or nationally? i believe in bipartisanship. when i first went to washington it was during a financial crisis i went to bring some accountability to what was going on and i was asked to head up a bipartisan commission, democrats and republicans. we turned out recommendations

every 30 days on some of the most contentious issues of that whole crisis. and, you know, a lot of our reports-- maybe about half-- were (inaudible) that's because we saw prince we agreed on and worked from here so, yes, i think those were strong reports and we could be bipartisan. but there were times we did not agree we couldn't find that basic place where we started in the same place and that was majority report and a minority report. >> but in the senate where there isn't a lot of that, how do you proposed to change the partisanship that you would find on capitol hill? >> i think you don't start on capitol hill. i think that the change really starts back in new bedford and pittsfield and in boston it

starts all over the commonwealth of massachusetts and towns all over this country. and it's about people getting more involved, about putting the wind in our own sales in part what you're asking about it's not just what's happening in washington, it's that people have to be involved we have to make our voices heard. >> ifill: you're hear in this convention to speak on behalf of barack obama. what do you say to americans who voted for him four years ago who are just not that enthusiast thick time? >> well, i tell them i believe the direction this country's going to go for the next half century will be decided in this election. we've really come to it and this is going to be a race about our value, about what kind of a people we are and what what kind of a country we're trying to build if you believe that the

way to build this country and the kind of country it is that it's from the top down, more tax cuts, more deregulations for so they have more power and somehow that will trickle down for everyone else then mitt romney is your guy but weried that and we got the worst economic crisis since the great depression barack obama is on the side of working families. he's there for america's middle-class. he believes the way we build a future is we make those investments together so that our kids have chances, all of our kids have chances. we invest in schools, we invest in roads and bridges. we invest in basic research so our kids can do better than we did and their kids can do better than they did. it's a fundamental difference in

how we build the future and i stand with president obama on that. >> ifill: elizabeth warren, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> ifill: next, drumming up the youth vote, and again to ray. >> reporter: for the obama campaign to work it needs young people. as peers, as voters, people under 30 are crucial. in 2008, two of every three voters under 30 cast a vote for candidate obama, making it the largest gap between old and young voters since 1972 younger voters are more racially and ethnically diverse than the general population and a lot more secular and those are two big markers for the democratic party. but they're also a lot more unemployed and that represents a big challenge for the obama campaign. in last month's jobs report, unemployment for 20 to 24-year-olds stood at 13.5%. millions of young voting age

students aren't yet in the full time work force. on college campuses 100,000 college democrats on 1,200 campuses are headed by this woman who heads to law school in the fall. >> this president made a promise to young people he was going to be our voice. >> reporter: selenas insists she doesn't see the disappointment pollsters are saying, college democrats, she says, are surging. >> we as the college democrats organization see tremendous growth in key battleground states like florida, iowa, colorado, north carolina where our sprens has grown some 15 chaper tos to 20 or 30 chapters. another example if you're looking at the demographics is who's going to be here this weekend? that's an incredible number and a great example of how energized young people are about this president. >> i'd like that mayor to step forward. >> reporter: anna mccarly is one of the young delegates, she turned 18 yesterday, in time for the convention roll call. about to start her senior year

in high school, she decided to run for a spot in west virginia's contingent. >> i ran as a delegate for the state convention earlier this summer and was elected and i was very surprised but very honored. >> reporter: mccarly says people like her, preparing to cast their first vote, face a different set of issues from the iraq war that loomed large last time. >> some of the issues that weren't as prominent are now coming into light for education and health care. those weren't an issue during the campaign in 2008 so much as the war in iraq was, etc. but for us, you know, we're focused on college, focused on health care, focused on equality and i think those are things that are having more focus. >> reporter: as the city's convention seventh celebration, carolina fest, there were signs democrats can still count on carrying young voters. >> reporter: the reaction from the r.n.c. and the republican picks, the v.p. pick has angered a lot of people.

i think their platform is very extreme. i go to university of tennessee chat no goo ga and in two days we registered almost 200 students. most of them seem like democratic prospects. >> suarez: but will they vote? >> i think a lot of my peers aren't voting. i think most of them don't care yet or feel like they'll make a difference even if they do vote. >> suarez: she says students will see a big difference under a romney presidency at tuition time. >> you won't be able to afford college unless you're right. i couldn't go to college without a pell grant, scholarships that i get, federal funding. i think students are saying no to that. >> reporter: the obama administration has been touring campuses for weeks and the president is zeroing in on the cost of education. in a campaign visit to colorado state university the president talked about his ideas and helping families handle the

steadily rising tuition and fees. >> we've got to make sure that we help every single american earn the education you're earning right here in colorado state. >> reporter: new research indicates young voting americans are no longer as excited or hopeful about this president. more than 40 points down since 2008. so young people will have to work harder than usual to improve normally low young voter turnout. alejandra salinas says college democrats have the money and the organization they need >> our job as college democrats is to help create the motivation and excitement and energy about the president and make sure they're out knocking on doors and making phone calls. on campuses across the country college democrat are having their first chapter meeting and students are in lectured halls screaming for president obama. talking about the president's accomplishments and registering as many of your friends as you can is part of what will help us win in november.

>> suarez: recent polls show mitt romney grabbing 40% of young voters. still trailing the president but substantially cutting into the huge obama lead of 2008. >> ifill: we've been talking with youngg and not so young delegates here. >> woodruff: hari has been talking with young and not so young delegates here. you can see those interviews online, including one with a father and his college-age son from colorado. >> woodruff: and we go back to ray on the convention floor. >> suarez: i'm down here on the floor with stephanie who runs emily's list. it's a name that's very familiar with political people and women who want to run for office but tell us what it is. >> reporter: emily's list is a 27-year-old organization that is committed to electing pro-choice democratic women across the country and it's now today 1.6 million members strong and we're having a historic year in 2012 supporting candidates like elizabeth warren in